Personal computers (PCs) connected to the Internet enable users to engage in e-commerce. For instance, numerous websites offer products for sale over the Internet, and numerous websites contain links to other websites offering products for sale over the Internet. Typical Internet browsers on PCs allow a user to open multiple browser windows simultaneously. This is a useful feature when linking to other websites, because it allows the user to keep open the window displaying the original website and to generate a new window displaying the website to which the PC is directed through the link. This ability to operate numerous windows simultaneously also allows a user to engage in e-commerce while simultaneously running other applications (such as a word processing program, a music player, etc.).
In recent years, mobile handsets (such as cellular phones and PDAs) have become more powerful and now offer additional functionality beyond just voice communication. For instance, many mobile handsets today allow users to perform web browsing on the Internet and to receive emails. Such devices contain increasingly powerful processors and enhanced video and audio capability. However, the processing power and video and audio capability of a mobile handset is inherently inferior to that of PCs, because consumers demand that mobile handsets contain a small form factor (that can fit in a user's hand), with a light weight, and a long battery life. As a result, the space within a mobile handset in which to place circuit boards, processors, and other electronic components is extremely limited when compared to PCs. In addition, the amount of power stored on the battery that powers the mobile handset is finite and must be conserved as much as possible, meaning that electronic devices must be chosen with power constraints in mind. As a result, the processors in mobile handsets typically are much slower and more limited that PC processors, the video screens are much smaller and of lower resolutions than PC screens, and the audio systems and speakers are inferior to those of PC audio systems.
Due to these inherent constraints in their design, mobile handsets have not yet been designed to engage in e-commerce to the same degree as PCs. In addition, the processing capability of mobile handsets and the limitations of the operating systems and browsers typically used on mobile handsets allow the user to only engage in one activity at a time. That is, unlike PCs, mobile handsets are unable to multi-task between more than one application at a time, and the user cannot run more than one application at a time. As a result of these inherent limitations, the amount of e-commerce conducted on mobile handsets to date has been relatively minimal.
What is needed in the art is a system that allows a user of a mobile handset to engage in e-commerce related to an application being run on the mobile handset. For example, if a user is listening to music, it would be desirable to enable the user to initiate an action to purchase a related ringtone or music CD.
What is further needed in the art is such a system that allows the user to continue his or her original application after initiating an action to purchase a product. For example, if a user is listening to music, it would be desirable to enable the user to initiate an action to purchase a related product while still listening to the music.